FanPost

Chicago Bears Off-Season Addition Suggestions

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With the NFL Combine and Free Agency happening soon, these are my top draft choices and free agents I believe the Chicago Bears should go after:

Draft choices for the first round pick at #14:

1. Calvin Pryor, FS, Louisville - We need safety help and bad. Plain and simple this is a bad man and will add that bit of nasty to the back-end of the defense we've lacked since Mike Brown.

2. Justin Gilbert, Cornerback, Oklahoma State - With Charles Tillman hitting free agency, the Bears have a lot of questions at cornerback outside of Tim Jennings. If they resign Tillman, do you bring in another CB to add depth or do you draft this young guy and let Tillman walk? Time will tell. Gilbert would be a great compliment next to Tim Jennings and bring youth and athleticism to a defense in need of both.

3. C. J. Mosley, Linebacker, Alabama - One place we could use depth or a new starter is linebacker. I believe we can resign D.J. Williams for cheap but if he doesn't want a short term contract, drafting Mosley would add a young stud of a linebacker to plug the middle.

4. If the Bears want to focus just on the defensive line, they will have their choice as to who they will take. They will have the luxury of taking the best available player if they go this route. Just a short list of players the Bears could look at:

Ra’Shede Hageman, Defensive Tackle, Minnesota

Kony Ealy, Defensive End, Missouri

Aaron Donald, Defensive Tackle, Pittsburgh

Louis Nix, Defensive Tackle, Notre Dame

Free Agency:

1. Any Defensive End that can get to the quarterback aka Greg Hardy, Michael Johnson or Brian Orakpo (if the Bears switch to a 3-4 he can play DE) - With the Bears deciding if they will cut Julius Peppers or reconfigure his contract, they need help to replace or find a compliment to him. Any of the guys above can do that.

2. T.J. Ward or Jairus Byrd, Safety - These are bad men in the secondary and the combination of either one of these next to Calvin Pryor would be a ballhawking, hard hitting combo that is rare in the NFL but has proven to be a winner combination for a defense. Just ask the Seahawks.

3. Randy Starks or Henry Melton, Defensive Tackle - Depending on whatever scheme the Bears decide to choose, we need a big man up the middle to get to the QB and stop the run. Even though Melton is coming off an ACL repair, it's rare to find DTs like him at the ripe age of 27. Starks would be a good addition if they don't want to sign Melton even if he's 3 years older than him.

4. Alterraun Verner, Cornerback - If the Bears decide to focus on the defensive line in the draft, they will need to look at adding youth and playmaking ability at the cornerback position and Alterraun has turned into one of the better cornerbacks in the NFL. He has shown to be a sound tackler but finally showed his playmaking and pass defense ability in the 2013 season. He would be a welcomed addition to the secondary and would take some of the pressure off the safeties.

This Fanpost was written by a Windy City Gridiron member and does not necessarily reflect the ideas or opinions of its staff or community.